Mental wanderings of a common man.

Happy Columbus Day

Columbus has been on the receiving end of higher and higher mudheaps slung in his direction as the years go by. It’s become fashionable among those who live amid the wondrous opportunities made possible by American civilization to condemn this man. I’m glad to see his legacy viewed in a more proper light by none other than Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit.

Many in the West will demonstrate their fierce originality and intellectual independence today by condemning Christopher Columbus using the same shopworn cliches they used last year. For those of a different bent, I recommend Samuel Eliot Morison’s Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus, which takes a somewhat different position. Here’s an excerpt: